Policy and Research Associate, Georgetown University Initiative on Innovation, Development, and Evaluation (gui2de)

Georgetown University

Georgetown University comprises two unique campuses in the nation’s capital. With the Hilltop Campus located in the heart of the historic Georgetown neighborhood, and the Capitol Campus just minutes from the U.S. Capitol and U.S. Supreme Court, Georgetown University offers rigorous academic programs, a global perspective, and unparalleled opportunities to engage with Washington, D.C. Our community is a close-knit group of remarkable individuals driven by intellectual inquiry, a commitment to social justice, and a shared dedication to making a difference in the world.

Requirements

Job Overview

The advertised position is for a Policy and Research Associate (PRA) at gui2de, the Georgetown University Initiative on Innovation, Development, and Evaluation. gui²de is a university-wide research platform jointly convened by the McCourt School of Public Policy and the Economics Department. Our mission is to address poverty and insecurity in low- and middle-income countries by incubating solutions, rigorously testing them in the field, and working with local partners to scale what works. Our work spans faculty affiliates across five Georgetown schools, operational and analytical staff in Washington, D.C. and East Africa, and students who work alongside us in the field.

The PRA will work closely with Professor Jishnu Das and other members of the team. We are a small and collaborative group. Our work is built around a weekly group meeting where each team member provides updates on their workstreams, receives feedback, and finalizes tasks for the following week. Meetings are in-person and not optional. Outside of meetings, team members work independently but collaborate frequently. We also try to do something outside of work once a month.

Very Important: We are looking for someone who will commit to remaining with us for at least 2 years, preferably 3 years. Please consider that commitment seriously at the time of application.

In order to facilitate the best possible match, we specify below the kinds of tasks for which we require support. In general, you need to be independent, passionate about education and health, good at communication and messaging, fantastic at analysis, and happy to travel.

The Basics

We have a portfolio of academic work on health and education at various stages of completion. We do not need you to contribute to these immediately, but if you are willing to jump in, that’s even better. What we need you to do is several things that complement or build on this work.

Example 1

We have a paper showing how investments in foundational literacy and numeracy increase later-life earnings. We need to disseminate this well. This includes:

1. Designing, editing, and coordinating public-facing outputs to disseminate our results on FLN, including complex products such as whiteboard animations.
2. Managing timelines, donor relationships, and deliverables.
3. Possibly co-authoring or solo-authoring writing around these results, published through our outlets or your own platforms.
4. Bringing in and scraping additional data as necessary to build out these estimates for others.

Example 2

We are planning a multi-institutional collaboration to build a guidance document/website around investing in private schools in low-income countries. Tasks include:

1. Managing stakeholders, including drafting responses to technical queries on the literature.
2. Participating in writing the report or developing the website, including literature summaries, explanations of existing work, scraping new data, and assembling datasets.
3. Preparing and working with a small group on workshop content, structure, inputs, and outputs, and drafting the workshop report.
4. Maintaining connections and identifying avenues for shorter publications (blogs, VoxDev, The Conversation, etc.).
5. Managing timelines, donor relationships, and deliverables tied to this project.

Example 3

We are running a winter school camp in Balochistan. You would support research administration, grant management, and coordination of information flows between multiple stakeholders and institutions.

Example 4

We are exploring longer-term relationships with institutions that traditionally focus on implementation and are now moving toward evidence generation. These partnerships are not currently funded. You would travel, help raise funds, and help design workable structures, from organograms to data-driven websites. This work involves mentoring students.

Example 5

We are working in Kenya and Nigeria on health insurance. This early-stage work requires support with data collection and analysis, including potential A/B experiments and non-experimental analysis.

How Will We Know If You Are the Right Person?

We expect many applications. You must find a way to make your application stand out. We have developed four exercises to assess your skills. Each allows for creativity.

Note on AI

We value and encourage appropriate use of AI. Setting up productive AI workflows is part of the necessary skillset. If you use AI for any task, submit the relevant conversation logs. You must understand everything you submit.

Structured Things We Need From You

Exercise 1

We have a workshop of stakeholders traveling to D.C. on the private school guidance project. You have previously worked with us on workshop content. Write a short internal note addressing:

1. What you will do in the week prior to the workshop.
2. Your proposed role and actions during the workshop.
3. What you will do in the week after the workshop.
4. What support you would need from the group.

Exercise 2

Determine how many primary health centers (PHCs) exist in Oyo State, Nigeria, using scraped and administrative data. Identify how many PHCs are in clusters. Submit code and presentable outputs.

Exercise 3

Produce an explainer for a mainstream audience on the long-term impacts of a test-score-raising intervention in Pakistan.

Exercise 4

Write code (Stata, R, or Python) performing power calculations for a long-term follow-up study on the RTE Act in India. Submit code, outputs, and a methodological note.

Submission Guidelines

1. Submit your official application via Georgetown’s Workday portal.
2. Upload your exercises in one .zip folder at the provided link.

Applications missing either submission will not be considered.

Questions may be directed to Béatrice Leydier at [email protected].

Work Interactions

The Data and Research Associate will work under the Principal Investigators, gui2de’s Research Managers, and the Director of Research, and will supervise several student Research Assistants.

Requirements and Qualifications

Required: Bachelor’s degree and 3–5 years of grant and contract experience. Analytical experience with STATA, R, Overleaf/LaTeX, Git/GitHub is helpful. Experience with Agentic AI is a plus.

Preferred: Master’s degree with significant coursework in empirical methods and data analysis.

Work Mode Designation

This position is designated as Hybrid. Work mode designations may change based on university needs.

Pay Range

$47,586.00 – $87,558.13, depending on qualifications, experience, and business needs.

Current Georgetown Employees

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Submission Guidelines

A resume must be submitted for each position of interest.

Need Assistance?

Applicants needing accommodations should contact the Office for Equal Opportunity Compliance at (202) 687-4798 or [email protected].

For help with the application process, call 202-687-2500.

EEO Statement

GU is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to protected characteristics.

Benefits

Georgetown University offers comprehensive benefits including medical, dental, vision, disability, life insurance, retirement savings, tuition assistance, work-life balance benefits, employee discounts, and more.